Jacob Kopnick

South Africa requested the establishment of two dispute panels to review EU restrictions on South African citrus fruit at the June 24 Dispute Settlement Body, marking the first time South Africa has used the dispute settlement system, the World Trade Organization announced. The measures are import restrictions to control the spread of the false coding moth and a fungus called the "citrus black spot."

The EU sanctioned six people for undermining "the stability and political transition of Sudan," the Council of the European Union announced June 24. The sanctions come amid fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The council sanctioned Abdulrahman Juma Barakallah, an RSF general commanding troops in West Darfur, along with the RSF's financial adviser and a "prominent tribal leader." Related to the SAF, the council sanctioned the director general of sanctioned company Defense Industry System, Sudanese Air Force Commander El Tahir Mohamed El Awad El Amin and former Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Ahmed Karti Mohamed.

The EU this week unveiled its 14th sanctions package against Russia for its war on Ukraine, including new due diligence rules for companies with counterparties that may be selling to Russia. The package also includes new measures to prevent sanctions evasion, new import and export controls, a set of servicing restrictions on certain Russian energy shipments, designations of more than 100 people and entities, and more.

The Council of the European Union on June 24 sanctioned six people for cyberattacks on information systems involving "critical infrastructure, critical state functions, the storage or processing of classified information and government emergency response teams in EU member states." The individuals include members of Callisto, a group of Russian military intelligence offers carrying out cyber operations on EU member states and third countries. Others include members of the Armageddon hacker group, which is backed by Russia's Federal Security Service, and two developers of the Conti, Trickbot and Wizard Spider malwares.

Adam Safwat, a former deputy chief of DOJ's fraud section, has joined Foley Hoag as a partner in the white collar crime and government investigations practice, the firm announced. Safwat will be based in Washington, D.C., and will focus on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations, sanctions, political corruption and financial fraud, the firm said. Safwat most recently was a partner at Nelson Mullins.

The EU General Court on June 19 rejected Russian businessperson Igor Rotenberg's bid to be removed from the EU's Russian sanctions list. Rotenberg was sanctioned for holding leadership positions in Russian companies SGM, Gazprom Drilling and Mostotrest and for his association with his father, oligarch Arkady Rotenberg, and with President Vladimir Putin.

The U.K. issued a general license under its Russia sanctions regime allowing sanctioned parties to make all required payments to the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. The license doesn't apply to any fees for an application for permission to conduct activities that fall "within any function of the FCA," or payments to the FCA "of a levy imposed by the scheme manager of the Financial Compensation Scheme." Sanctioned parties also can't make payments to the FCA that are collected by the FAC on behalf of the Financial Reporting Council. The license also requires sanctioned parties to "keep accurate, complete, and readable records" of any activity permitted under the license for six years. The license took effect June 20.

The World Trade Organization's published agenda for the Dispute Settlement Body's June 24 meeting includes U.S. status reports on the implementation of DSB recommendations on: antidumping measures on certain hot-rolled steel products from Japan; antidumping and countervailing measures on large residential washers from South Korea; certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act. Status reports also are expected from Indonesia on measures related to the import of horticultural products, animals and animal products and from the EU on measures affecting the approval and marketing of biotech products.

Cote d'Ivoire liberalized 1,080 tariff lines on EU goods under the EU-Cote d'Ivoire interim economic partnership agreement, retroactively effective from Jan. 1, the European Commission announced this week. The new tariff cuts cover "mechanical and electrical machinery, as well as appliances, plastics, and chemical products," the commission said. The number of liberalized tariff lines under the deal is now 3,385, or about 55% of total tariff lines. The final two tariff liberalization moves are set for 2026 and 2029, which will lead to reductions to around 88% of tariff lines.

The Council of the European Union on June 17 extended until June 23, 2025, its sanctions regime related to the annexation by Russia of Crimea and the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol. The sanctions, which had been set to expire this month, include financial restrictions, import and export restrictions, and more.